Are You Ready For a Ruckus? Debut Presentation

Will you be ready if a disaster strikes? What about your neighborhood? Who’s responsible for making a plan for your community? While government officials have a city-wide plan, and plenty of advice to share with individuals, there’s not much out there on what disaster planning looks like at the community level.

On Wednesday, March 21 students presented the publication Are You Ready for a Ruckus? This Urban Investigation project looks at how disaster planning works now, and how it could work. The project was a collaboration of CUP, teaching artist Fatima Abdul-Nabi, and students in the College Now program at New Design High School and the Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law in the Lower East Side.

To find out how NYC prepares for a disaster, the group interviewed city and federal disaster planners, environmental justice organizations, and insurance mavens. They passed through more security checkpoints than president Obama to visit high tech command centers and situation rooms. Together with CUP, they created a visual primer on community preparedness, what it might look like, and why it matters.

At the event guests got the low-down on disaster planning and met the crew for a presentation of their hot-off-the-presses booklet. They also got to catch a glimpse of the American Red Cross's 24/7 Emergency Communications Center.

“Are You Ready for a Ruckus” was made possible by the CUNY College Now program. Additional support was provided by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the Bay and Paul Foundations; and the Henry Luce Foundation. Presentation venue generously provided by the Red Cross in Greater New York.